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Five Earths - Timeline (2013 December)
This is the timeline of the Five Earths, All in a Row setting December 2013. (1941 on Earth-2, 1879 on Earth-3, 1556 on Earth-4, and 515 CE/1268 AUC on Earth-5) <-2013 November; 2014 January)-> December 1 European Union Space Forces founded. The EUSF will consist primarily of components - including personnel, vehicles, equipment, and bases - assigned to it from member states of the European Union; some members assign most or all of their national military space service to the EUSF, while others assign comparatively little. The headquarters of the EUSF is to be built outside of Brussels, Belgium; other bases owned directly by the EUSF are planned. Dec. 3 In Clockpunk England, the Dragon of the Tower ('of the Tower' or 'de la Tour' being the era-equivalent of the modern HMS prefix) is commissioned, third of the Terror-class artillery ships (wider, reinforced versions of bomb vessels, with gyroscopes and stabilizers, the mortars replaced with turreted artillery cannon, and mechanical ballistic calculators; while primarily intended for shore bombardment, she can also hit slow-moving vessels, or use grapeshot or burning coals to hit multiple ships close together). The Dragon is the first Clp-British (and Earth-4 in general) ship to have an on-board radio transceiver system, though the range isn't wonderful, barring good weather conditions. Per the advice of the embassy from Steampunk Britain, the radio is always to be manned, if at all possible, and four of the crew have been trained to operate and repair it, along with the Captain. Dec. 5 In Inp-Germany, and a few other places, particularly bad children (and some adults) have nightmares about a demon called Krampus. These nightmares are sometimes found to be accompanied by scratches and/or bruises. In Inp-UK, The Times (London) publishes an interview with a Dr. John Smith, UNIT's chief scientific advisor, on the subject of time travel, and introduces the general public to the concept of the Reality Quotient (already known to many Doctor Who fans): Normally, one's Reality Quotient is 1 - one is completely real, interacts with the world, and has permanent effect on the timeline. The time travelers that have appeared since November 23rd are arriving in the past with much lower RQs, in the 0.4 to 0.6 range. At RQ 0.4 or less, they can observe, but not interact. At 0.5, they can interact, but time 'resets' to normal the moment they leave that time - they simply aren't real enough to have a permanent effect. At an RQ of 0.6, they interact, and may be remembered in a dreamlike manner, but again, time resets, and the method that is being used cannot produce RQs above 0.6 - 'In a sense, they aren't going into the Earths' real past or future at all, but into humanity's memory or prediction of it.' This is also why the travelers that try to remove real things from the past without something sufficiently close to replace them with fail: they aren't taking anything from the past, because they can't permanently interact with it, they're psychically transforming the items they bring with them, into a near-copy of the original, though one that a skilled analyst would be able to distinguish with some work. The Doctor does not answer questions on his origins, nor his resemblance to Jon Pertwee circa 1969 or '70. The reporter describes him as 'smart, a bit arrogant, but charming, nonetheless.' Dec. 6 Saint Niklaus fills the shoes of good children with gifts, in the same Inp-nations where Krampus gave nightmares (though obviously, not to the same children). This includes some homes that should have been too secure for such to simply appear, though not so many as on the 25th, below. On Earth-1, the orbital phase of DARPA's artificial coma tests (see June 8) begins, as volunteers enter a new module being prepared for the International Space Station, and already loaded into Space Shuttle Discovery. The shuttle then launches, and the module is docked to the ISS. Dec. 8 In Stp-Krakow, Earth-3, King-Elect Casimir Piast is crowned Casimir V, King of Poland and Galicia, by Pope Clement XV. Both Prussia and Russia protest this, but fall short of declaring it a violation of Austro-Hungarian neutrality (Krakow being in Galicia, which is theoretically still under the Dual Monarchy), as adding another major power to the war would not be in their best interests. In Dsp-Berlin, Nazi Germany, Goebbels orders the secret Nazi cabal that he's been told controls Argentina to invade the Falklands. Unsurprisingly, the message is rapidly decoded by many on Inp-Earth. Dec. 10 Inp-Earth observers looking in on Earth-4 witness a pair of partially-built Roman towns in the Clp-Beecroft Paeninsula, in western Australia (see Oct. 5). UK Prime Minister David Cameron, and Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, announce that the Nazi cabal that had once ruled Argentina was wiped out by a joint SAS-Mossad force during the Falkland Islands War. Their general phrasing and merry smiles suggest that this is a joke, and that there was no Nazi conspiracy running Argentina, but this is interpreted differently on Dsp-Earth - and in Inp-Argentina, where it is assumed that the Argentines are being mocked, again. Dec. 13 On Earth-5 (Fantasy), the Gupta Empire attempts to boost an enchanted vimana into space, but the vehicle is forced to return due to the decreasing atmospheric pressure at high altitudes. While the pilot and crew were equipped for high mountain survival, they were not prepared for the much lower pressures one and a half Yojana (about ten or so miles) above sea level. Likewise, the balloon, even enhanced, seems unlikely to go much higher, and the screws need greater pressure to provide propulsion. Emperor Bhanugupta decides that more thought is needed. While more vimana are to be sent up, they will be used for study of the environment, not attempts to reach the other Earths Dec. 15 On Earth-3, poison gas is used by Eastern Alliance (Prussian and Russian, mostly) forces against the trench lines at the Siege of Warsaw. This is somewhat less effective than intended, due to many of the Poles and foreign 'mercenaries' having early gas masks. Reactions on the elder Earths are generally appalled, as even the Nazis have been trying to head off this Earth's World War One, and the use of gas attacks on the Poles will at minimum encourage them to use gas on their opponents. Dec. 17 Four litters of kittens, all with feathered wings, are born at Kitty Hawk, Inp-North Carolina, USA. The veterinarians' examinations suggest that the wings will be functional, though they are unlikely to grow large enough to allow unassisted flight. The DNA of the newborns is unusual, having both feline and raptor characteristics. While they are likely to be able to breed with each other, they will clearly not be able to breed with normal cats. While the Atlantic Ocean of Earth-2 is facing away from the other Earths, three rockets are launched from it, and due to daylight, cloud cover, and very careful planning, are not spotted as they dock, fire, and the final stage cloaks, on a course for Inp-Earth. Dec. 19 In the Dsp-USSR, the first KV-VI 'Behemoth' land battleship rolls out of the factory. In Dsp-New York, at a press conference of the Minutemen (founded in late 1940 on this Earth, not too long after Jonny Thunder accidentally caused the first meeting of the Justice Society of America), Ursula Zandt, the unmasked heroine Silhouette, responds to an accusation of homosexuality by firmly kissing Captain Metropolis, which satisfies the press, and leaves the Captain thoroughly flustered. Dec. 21 Despite the predictions of a few, the other Earths fail to vanish, remaining just as they are, nor do more Earths appear. In Dsp-Gotham City, N.J. (on an island off the New Jersey coast, some miles south of Long Island), young Lex Luthor delivers a portable radio-computer to Dr. Victor Fries, allowing the mad scientist access to the internet of the Far Future World of 2013 (soon to be 2014), in the hope that it will help him cure his wife. When asked why, Lex answers "I am not my father, and tomorrow is Christmas." Dec. 22 Christmas Day on Dsp-Earth. Young Lex Luthor awakens to find a couple of gifts that neither his father (currently in prison) nor his mother would have given him; clearly, he thinks, the Evil Overlord List (and related concepts) works. Meanwhile, up-state, Alexei Luthor begins concocting a plan to use the coal he received that morning (along with many other prisoners, and a lot of the guards) to escape from prison. In Dsp-Europe and Asia, the war rages on, no Christmas truces in WWII. On Earth-1, a pair of slightly drunk US Marines on leave in Inp-Chicago are attacked by three Rodents Of Unusual Size - rats the size of wolves (adult wolves, not puppies). They are rescued by what appears to be a semi-organized platoon of cats, some of which have opposable thumbs, and cat-scale weaponry. The cat who appears to be in charge (the Mewtenant?) wears a hat with a purple band & black feather, a pair of boots, and a baldric, and wields a rapier scaled to his size. The ROUSs are swiftly killed, and carried off by the cats. It is fortunate for the two Marines that one of them was sober enough to activate the camera on his smartphone, and even more fortunate that the Sergeant Major they report it to served on the USS Enterprise (CVN-65) towards the end of the Cold War, and thus remembers stranger things (though how many of those memories are real, and how many are artifacts of the changes the world has been going through, he does not know). Dec. 25 On Inp-Earth, Santa Claus brings gifts to all the good little children of the world, and some nice adults, as well - even those living in very secure homes. A number of particularly bad children (and, again, some adults) receive coal, generally of a cheap and smelly type. Dec. 26 Many among Dsp-Earth and Stp-Earth security agencies are deeply amused, or in some cases exasperated, by the panic among Inp-Earth's security agencies, over the gifts that appeared the previous night (said panic deduced by them due to the questions the Inp-Earth agencies keep asking). Dec. 27 In Steampunk London, Earth-3, Mister Ebeneezer Scrooge begins to invest in health insurance, and along with a small raise, grants his clerk, Bob Cratchett, a free family plan as a corporate benefit, and encouragement to bring young Timothy Cratchett to see the doctor that Scrooge has retained for company use. When visited by his nephew with an invitation to a Christmas party, Scrooge replies 'Well if you're so full of the spirit of the season, why don't you invite my clerk and his family? He has the day off to-morrow, anyway.' Oddly, he also gives a noticeable sum (two hundred guineas! - which he expects to make up through his new insurance business, over the next few months) to a charity, and isn't really unpleasant to a child singing Christmas carols. He gives Mr. Cratchett a copy of 'A Christmas Carol', reprinted from Earth-1, to explain his changes. Though Scrooge is visited by a single spirit this night, it is only his mother, to give him her love. Dec. 28 On Earth-1, the first 'spice' drugs (psychic stimulants/empowerers, called awareness spectrum narcotics by some fen, such as melange, glitterstim, and various others, not all yet made real; See also GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 14: Psi, p25, for more examples - then think about what side effects might be created, accidentally or otherwise, by amateur alchemists) are confirmed on the streets of Inp-USA cities, though there was some suspicion earlier. The Bene Geseritt Order, a religious sisterhood formed by empowered Dune fans, are the most reliable producers of the spice melange, as they maintain strict safety standards not found in street laboratories. Most spice drugs are not illegal at this time, unless they contain already-illegal ingredients. In Stp-London, Mr. Scrooge delivers a Christmas goose as a bonus for the Cratchett family. In Stp-Poland, the guns fall silent, just for one day. Dec. 31 An odd weather phenomenon occurs this night on each of the Earths, as the Aurora Borealis is visible from even the northern parts of the Tropics, and the Aurora Australis is visible from the southern parts of the Tropics, although not too near the Equator, in either case. Category:Timelines Category:Fanwork